Welcome to April!
Last month in the C Factor Community we covered COMPASSION as one of the critical strengths/skills sets every leader needs. This month we consider COMMAND as a perfect pair for compassion.
Imagine a two-seater car.
If compassion is in the driver's seat, you might want to consider command to ride shotgun, and vice versa.
The value of command didn't become clear to me until 2020, the year of Covid. I had the privilege of spending a great deal of June and July with a Healthcare client launching a hospitality program in the middle of a pandemic. I watched closely how their executive and senior leaders were activating command for their organization and community in real-time, while also maintaining a high level of compassion. It seemed to me that these two qualities of a confident leader went hand in hand.
Compassion is certainly something we all want during times of great disruption and change, but we also need leaders who can be in command.
Command as a leadership trait gets a bad rap, just the word command feels kind of icky.
Who wants to be commanded?
In a culture that is fiercely individualistic, the idea of being commanded to do anything creates a sense of strong resistance for many of us (I have authority issues dating back to childhood when I was constantly told what to do by my two older sisters leaving me a bit suspect of anyone who tries to command me).
As our culture has evolved and leadership principles have changed, the command and control style of leadership has been replaced by more collaborative and democratic styles of leadership (but command and control style does still exist and can be found in pockets of every industry and profession).
Commanding brings up images of the ruthless dictator who operates from a "by God because I said so," style of leading. No one likes that. (Google command and leadership and you will be hard-pressed to find anything positive outside of Clifton Strengths about command as a leadership strength)
This month, we consider a new approach to command that rides along with compassion to create a strong and decisive leader who also values people and their experiences. You can do both. But to get there, we need a different understanding of command.
One of my favorite truths about leadership is that a leader is a person who will step up, step out, and speak up when no one else can or will. They are the person who is willing to take the risk of saying, "follow me..." even when they are not 100% sure of success. This is the signature action of a leader who has command available to them.
Clifton Strengths helped me shift my understanding of command, having coached a number of leaders who have this strength in their signature.
They define command as: "People exceptionally talented in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions."
When the world is spinning out of control, a leader who can exercise command is an asset.
What would this look like for you to activate command when needed? Test yourself against the following:
- I take charge.
-
I am comfortable imposing my views on others.3. I need to share my opinion with others.
- I understand how to align others to my opinion and see my point of view.
- I am not frightened by confrontation, I see it as a necessary step towards resolution.
- I courageously face the facts of the matter, even when they are scary or hard to hear.
- I push others to take risks.
- People trust me to help them find the way forward.
- I have presence.
- I am unintimidated, decisive, and socially brave.
Let's replace the old and no longer useful command-and-control style of leadership with command-and-compassion.
To do that, here are three action items to extend your understanding of command:
- Make a list of the greatest leaders you know. How did they utilize command? What did it look like in action?
Command is not a bad word.
When used with intention and integrity, it will help a group of people find the way forward. We will continue to explore this in the coming weeks. Don't forget to share with us your thoughts on command by following us on Instagram at @cfactorcommunity
Cheers!
Libby
